I was unable to go to the JHOSC on Monday,because of the Friern Barnet Library meeting, but did go to Health overview and scrutiny. It was an interesting meeting, and a full house of members. We raised issues like the transport problems at Barnet Hospital,and about improving the transport connectivity of Finchley Memorial hospital.
I raised with the LiNK that a lot of residents were concerned about the friendliness and helpfulness of receptionists at GP surgeries. This was a big issue at the LiNK meeting I went to in March as a candidate, at Martin School. There were also concerns about the ease generally of getting an appointment.
We also talked about primary care, and how to encourage people to use it better. There are sometimes cultural issues, in that some communities will tend to go straight to hospitals rather than GPs, because it's what they're used to. Hospital care is extremely expensive, and with the national cuts, it is more important than ever to save money without affecting care. There are good savings that can be made in the NHS simply by encouraging patients to use primary care, which soles problems earlier, and saves costs and care down the line.
We also made some comments about the integrated care strategy.
